I'll be in Copenhagen on business in early January. I'll get a few days off, so I'm wondering what's the best direction to go for landscape photography (I know, not much light that time of year).

I don't necessarily have to get back to Copenhagen; I could fly back to the states from another city such as Oslo or Stockholm

Any suggestions on where to concentrate? I'm fairly experienced with cold & wet conditions, so I'm not limited to short hikes. In fact, for me the outdoor experience is just as important as my photographic results.

However, I wasn't planning on renting a car, just public transportation.

I can recommend the following: take a ferry to Oslo, from there a train to Bergen. Along the way take a trip called "Norway in a Nutshell". Bergen is a beautiful city and the waterfront buildings date from the 1800's. Be prepared for sticker shock when eating in restaurants.

Another enthusiastic vote for "Norway in a Nutshell". I wasn't on the tour itself, but driving around the same area and taking many of the same trains, and I can confirm that it's a gorgeous area. It appears to be a very popular tour.

Norway and Sweden are simply wonderful and I thoroughly recommend you head as far north as possible if you want real big landscapes! Denmark is a lovely country but is relatively flat. The highest points are probably the suspension bridges between the islands or of course the bridge linking Copenhagen and Malmo in Sweden.

I think Sweden starts to get really interesting north of Stockholm, although Stockholm is a beautiful city. If you can get hold of it I recommend looking at the book "True North The Grand Landscapes of Sweden" by Tore Hagman, Tommy Hammarstrom and Per Wastberg (ISBN 91-89204-26-3) Some amazing photography and will give you a good feel for the variety of landscapes and where you might find them in Sweden.

In Norway I would absolutely agree with the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour, but if you want to explore then again head north! The areas around the great fjords such as Hardangerfjord is breathtaking and of course there's the glacier on the mountains above. I also love Eidfjord and the plateau above which is also great for walking - many miles without seeing anyone!

Public transport in both countries is great. Trains to anywhere and many internal flights for the bigger distances.

I have not been there in January so do not know what the light will be like - but there will not be much of it! Hopefully someone with better knowledge may respond to this thread.

Any suggestions on where to concentrate? I'm fairly experienced with cold & wet conditions, so I'm not limited to short hikes. In fact, for me the outdoor experience is just as important as my photographic results.

However, I wasn't planning on renting a car, just public transportation.

Just registered here on the site myself, and found this thread this morning.

Public transportation to Bergen from Oslo is very easy. You can choose between several modes of travel, Bus, Train and Airlines being the easiest. The train offers some interesting views of the countryside, which airtravel does not, however it does take some 8 hours compared to the relative short time on airtravel. But then you have the security issues at airports etc...

Also there is a daily ferry going from Copenhagen to Oslo, which will give you a nice relaxing voyage to Norway, compared to hectic airtravel.

The Norway in a nutshell tour is very nice. There are some very good locations to shoot, but bear in mind that its in the middle of the darkest time of the year in Norway now. Check out [a href=\"http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=287&month=1&year=2008&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1]Http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astr...n&afl=-11&day=1[/url]for Sunrise and Sunset times in and around Bergen in January. In the beginning of January we have daylight just 6 hours, sunrise 9.45 am, and sunset 3:39 pm, end of January it gets a little better with just under 8 hours with sunrise at 9 am, and sunset at 4.46 pm

No in the summer its just the opposite, with nights as short as 4-5 hours.

As others suggested, going further north, you will have Aurora Borealis (the northern lights) which are spectacular, and year round darkness(winter) and daylight(summer)

On clear days here in Oslo now the light is decent, but conditions vary greatly with the weather, clouds, fog, freezing fog, etc. Also the weather can change pretty fast time time of year, with fog appearing almost out of nowhere. Not much snow to speak of locally yet, so everything is pretty dark at around 3.30pm. Which also makes for interesting photography of course.

Hopefully this won't put you off traveling here.

Also: the current state of $ vs NOK (Norwegian krone currency) at around 1usd = ~5.3NOK is at a 30 year lowpoint, which makes everything here seem very expensive

Many thanks to all of you for responding. Looks like I will head to Oslo and then Bergen. I'll see how much time I have beyond that. I might rent a car so I have the most freedom to explore. At least I will have plenty of time at night and in the morning to plan the photography for the next day!

I would go north, as southern parts off Scandinavia doesnt open up alot shoots under the winter seasons if you arnt into gray landscapes. Norway is beutiful, if you wont moody winter shoots you will have a fantastic opportunities.

Also the suspension bridges between Denmark and Sweden does have it best view from my hometown Malmö.

Here in the southern part, we have fantastic beutiful summers. Beautiful leaf trees, the north has the needle trees. We have tons off Oakwoods, if you know where there are.

If you are into history, Sweden presents tons off castles and forts. Just in our local area/(state) "Scania" we have 80 historic big buldings that are in 1 hour driving range.

Most off our churches like both Denmark, Norway often has history that dates back at least between 250 to 1000 years.

I would recommend if you are into urban history, Lund in Sweden is 50 minute train ride from Copenhagen train station. The city was grounded in 990 and have a great history heritage.